Discussion on ILP in Meghalaya
SHILLONG/ NEW DELHI: Chief Minister Conrad Sangma said on Monday that the Union Home Minister Amit Shah wanted to meet him after the Republic Day to discuss the ILP issue.
Conrad told reporters on Monday that he is in regular touch with the union home minister and added that Shah was not free due to his prior engagements with Republic Day and other matters.
Following the resolution on ILP passed by the Assembly last year, the government was under pressure to meet Shah and finalise the matter regarding the ILP.
Congress not convinced
CLP leader Mukul Sangma told reporters on Monday that the state government is trying to convince the people of the state to accept CAA.
“The chief minister during the Assembly session in the past tried to convince all of us. But we are not convinced because it opens up dangerous ramifications”, Mukul said.
A report from Delhi said the Centre is unlikely to agree to introduce ILP in the state since the entire area was not covered during the British rule when Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulations, 1873 originated.
Centre undecided
The Centre may not allow Meghalaya government to introduce ILP regime in the state to ward off impact of the CAA on local population, sources in the home ministry said, while contending that entire Meghalaya was never covered by the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulations, 1873.
Noting that the MHA continues to be in a state of indecision on Meghalaya’s demand to invoke the ILP in the state, the MHA officials said that this was because the entire area, which comprised the present day province, was never covered by the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulations, 1873 even during the British era. Therefore, allowing the state to have ILP is a difficult task”, they said.
Moreover, the hill station Shillong and wettest place Sohra are major tourist attractions all over the country and even abroad. The state is emerging as a happening place for national and international events in recent years and any kind of restriction will affect the same, the officials added.
The Assembly had on December 19 adopted a resolution for implementing ILP, which will impose restrictions on the entry of ‘outsiders’ to the state. But the Centre might only agree to include the remaining 3 per cent areas of Shillong in the Sixth Schedule to ward of opposition to the CAA.
The Centre is also keeping its eyes on the Supreme Court where hoards of petitions are pending challenging the CAA and some states have already declared not to implement the controversial act.